Are You a S.A.N.E. Procrastinator?

Sometimes people put off starting or completing tasks
because they are constantly drawn to new activities. One
example is a type of "Super Attention" procrastinator which,
although it seems to vary from person to person, many people
recognize in themselves the minute they hear about it.

Here's how Michelle, president of a successful business,
describes it. "Since I was a kid, I've had this weird
souped-up attention. It would snap into gear and I would
zero in on something that interested me, become very
enthusiastic about it, and not think of or hear or notice
anything else.

If a teacher caught my attention, I couldn't tear myself
away. If I'm reading a terrific book, nothing else in the
world exists. But then, something else would grab me and
take over my full, undivided, super attention and I'd forget
about the first thing. The result was procrastination."

Super Attention can take control of your life. Your Natural
Enthusiasm results in too many projects going at once (none
finished) because halfway through one amazingly interesting
idea, another comes along that is even more interesting.

Your calendar is packed with dates, meetings, get-togethers,
parties and classes you are so enthusiastic about that you
need a nap. The result is a life of excitement, exhilaration
... and exhaustion.

You're usually reading more than one book at a time. You may
have the TV and radio going while you work. In
conversations, you tend to jump quickly from one topic to
another, never finishing any of them. I call this behavior
pattern Super Attention & Natural Enthusiasm. (S.A.N.E.)

Four Signs that You're a S.A.N.E. Procrastinator

1. When you're so engrossed in what you're doing you become
oblivious to what's going on around you.

2. While you are in the middle of one project, you reach for
the phone or start another before completing the first one.

3. Your interest in activities is fleeting. For example,
you're excited about planting vegetables in your garden,
then by harvest time, the thrill is gone so you leave
everything to rot on the vine. Or you have many unfinished
craft and hobby projects around the house (also, sports
equipment and musical instruments which are never used).

4. Your desk or dining room table is covered with clutter
but you know exactly how to find everything in all the
stacks, piles and boxes.

Ironically, many overachievers seem to display signs of
having Super Attention and Natural Enthusiasm, and because
their attention bounces from one thing to another, they
leave lots of projects and plans unfinished.

If you relate to this, you don't have to stifle your
curiosity or enthusiasm for new things in order to complete
the project you've started. But you DO have to select one
project and complete it.

For example, set a timer to focus your efforts on the
present task. Or when you think of a new project or idea
while you're working on something else, let starting the new
project be your reward for completing the present one.

Using these and other anticrastination strategies in The
Procrastinator's Handbook, you'll learn to stick with a task
or to keep track of -- and return to - projects instead of
abandoning them when something else captures your attention.